US Senate Votes on Funding Bill

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives at the Capitol at the start of the third day of the government shutdown, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

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US Senate Votes on Funding Bill

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THE CAPITOL —

The U.S. Senate votes shortly [noon Washington time] on a three-week funding bill that would reopen the federal government.

A key underlying issue, the timing and substance of immigration reform, remains a sticking point.

Democrats want a guarantee that Congress will vote on a bipartisan bill shielding undocumented immigrants brought to America as children from deportation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made that promise late Sunday, but the Republican-led House of Representatives is not bound by Senate pledges, and President Donald Trump can sign or veto any bill as he sees fit.

For Democrats who distrust Trump, voting for the spending bill amounts to an act of faith. Trump accused them of putting the interests of non-citizens ahead of the American people. Democrats accuse Trump of manufacturing the crisis by terminating a program that allowed young immigrants to work and study in the United States.